After visiting Yuanhuaiyu's home, everyone sat in the small villa for a while, and it was almost dinner time.
The group of people rushed to a local restaurant not far away. After having a dinner, they said goodbye to each other and went back to their homes.
The children had been running around outside all day, and Yuanhuaiyu took Dr. Ali's car to send Ayumi, Mitsuhiko and Yuantai home one by one.
In the car, the three of them were exhausted and almost fell asleep.
Conan and Haibara Ai were both a little nervous.
Because they had stolen APTX-4869, the two of them still felt quite guilty when they saw Yuan Huaiyu's face, fearing that he would notice what happened in the laboratory.
After sending the three children off, Dr. Ali drove Yuanhuaiyu to a place not far from his home.
Yuan Huaiyu got out of the car, looked at the two guilty-minded guys in the car who said goodbye to him stiffly, waved to them, turned around and left.
Looking at Yuan Huaiyu's retreating figure, Conan finally breathed a sigh of relief. His tense muscles softened. He leaned back on the seat and took a few deep breaths.
"So Shinichi, did you gain anything from Mr. Yuan's house today?"
Dr. Ali turned an intersection and drove towards his home. He turned his head and looked at Conan beside him with concern.
"Ah, there are still some."
Conan had already made an agreement with Maori and his daughter to sleep at the doctor's house for one night. When he mentioned this to Xiaolan, he always felt that there was teasing in the other person's eyes.
[Really...it's like she knows I'm avoiding her...]
Feeling like he was being pinched, Conan thought depressedly, looked at the doctor aside and said:
"We got a few APTX-4869 from Teacher Yuan's house. Haiyuan said that with this, her research on the antidote will make great progress."
"Really? That's great!" Dr. Ali cheered up.
Haiyuan Ai, who was sitting in the back row, immediately poured cold water on her: "Don't be too happy too early. We just have a subject for research. How long it will take to develop an antidote is still unknown."
She glanced at Conan who was a little anxious: "It's just that our great detective has bigger worries now. He probably doesn't have much time to wait for me to slowly research the antidote..."
"Yeah..." Conan responded with a wry smile, "Xiaolan feels like she has given an ultimatum... I'm afraid the Didan High School Festival is the deadline."
"Haha, if I'm not wrong, you should already have a choice in your mind, right?"
Hui Yuarai looked at him quietly.
"Ah, yes, I want to tell Xiaolan everything..."
Conan admitted that she was right. After thinking about it for a long time, especially after Hattori said "She is waiting for you to tell her personally", his originally firm heart had been shaken, and he felt that it was too much to tell Xiaolan everything.
It might not be a feasible path.
But what he didn't expect was that Haiyuan immediately scolded:
"Do you feel that you no longer have the confidence to hide it anymore, and it might be an easier choice to tell the truth earlier?"
"If you really think so, you are absolutely wrong, Kudo Shinichi."
"Tell her everything about the medicine and organization, and you will be able to relax yourself. Even Miss Xiaolan from the Maori family is probably thinking [he should almost tell me, right?]..."
"But after you tell her all this, if the organization finds out that Kudo Shinichi is not dead but turned into a child, what do you think they will do?"
Haihara Ai looked directly into Conan's wide eyes: "Everyone who knows your true identity may be poisoned. If you tell her about the organization, she will undoubtedly become one of the organization's elimination targets.
…”
She looked at Conan, who was already deep in thought, and asked calmly: "So, what are you going to do? Mr. Detective?"
The atmosphere in the car fell into an awkward silence.
Dr. Ali hesitated several times, but in the end he could only sigh and concentrate on driving.
Countless street lights flashed past the window. For the first time, Kudo Shinichi felt that this familiar road leading to his home was so strange and so long.
But no matter how long the journey is, it will eventually come to an end.
Dr. Ali parked the car in front of his house, and the three of them got out of the car without saying a word. When they reached the door, Conan finally asked:
"Haiyuan, isn't there any better way?"
He did hesitate. He asked himself that it was impossible for Xiaolan to be put in danger in the future because of his ease.
But he had no idea how to fool Xiaolan, who had already confirmed that he was Kudo Shinichi.
"...If you want to ask Dr. Agasa to make you a clone robot that is exactly the same as Kudo Shinichi, I don't think the doctor can do it."
Haibara Ai changed the topic: "But if it just dispels the doubts of the young lady from the Maori family, I have a way that may succeed."
Conan's eyes suddenly lit up: "What can you do? Tell me quickly!"
He dragged Haihara Ai, who was caught off guard, into Dr. A Li's house, and rushed into the living room without even changing his shoes.
Haiyuan Ai shook off his hand without leaving a trace: "Actually, I heard you say before that you once drank that kind of wine called Baigan and briefly recovered your adult body..."
She put her hands behind her back: "So, I recently developed an antidote based on the ingredients of Baigan. Of course, it is a trial version. I am afraid there is no such case like the two of us who became smaller after taking APTX-4869. I
There is no way to find other experimental subjects to try this medicine."
"How about it? Do you want to give it a try? I can't guarantee whether it will be effective. There may even be serious consequences after taking it..."
Her eyes were slightly bent.
"It's just...because I got a few APTX-4869 today, I can improve the antidote by studying the ingredients of this poison. At least I can ensure that even if you can't restore your original body after taking it, there will be no problem.
side effect."
"I'm even very confident that you have a high chance of recovery after taking the improved medicine."
"At that time, you will be able to live as Kudo Shinichi instead of being an elementary school student all day long. You will also be able to retire from the stage as Edogawa Conan."
Haihara Ai looked at Conan who was hesitant and added a few words.
"If you can restore your body, sir, and I appear in front of that lady dressed as Edogawa Conan, her belief in Conan's true identity will be undermined."
"The doctor invented a mask-type voice changer, through which I can disguise myself as you."
After a long time, Conan finally made up his mind and raised his head with firm eyes and said:
"Just do as you say. Apart from this one, I don't seem to have any other way to go."